Locking device for sectional furniture.



A T WEISS LOOKING DEVICE FOR SEG'IIONAL FURNITURE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 31, 1910.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Law

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT T. WEISS, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NOR TO YAWMAN & ERBE MANUFACTURING (30., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF YORK.

LOCKING DEVICE FOR SECTIONAL FURNITURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 5, 1914.

Application filed January 31, 1910. Serial No. 540,990.

17 '0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALBERT T. Wniss, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Locking Devices for Sectional Furniture; and I-do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the referencemumerals marked thereon.

The present invention relates to furniture and more particularly to such furniture as is built in sections, as-in the case of bookcases and cabinets formed of a series of two or more separable units for erecting a structure of greater or less capacity or proportions, as desired, and the invention has for its object to provide such furniture with a simple, cheap and convenient means, easily accessible to the user for locking the several unitstogether in a manner in which they are adequately secured, but permitting them to be easily and quickly locked or unlocked.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end, of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical section taken in a plane extending from front to rear through a cabinet provided with a locking device constructed in accordance with. and illustrating one embodiment ofmy invention, the plane of the section being substantially on the line indicated by 1-1 in Fig. 3; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 2-2' of Fig. 1, being a plan view of the lower face of one of the floor walls of the cabinet; Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken longitudinally of the locking parts substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. l is a fragmentary perspective view showing collectively the two interlocking portions of adjacent units of the cabinet, together with the locking bolt which I prefer to employ, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section through the locking devices, in detail, somewhat enlarged.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

each unit are of a skeleton type, the latter comprising front and rear tie pieces 4 and 5 and the former centrally arranged tie pieces 6 and 7. The upper tie pieces are in the present instance raised above the upper edges of the end walls to which they are nailed, or otherwise suitably secured, as shown in Fig. 4:, but the lower ones have their under faces flush with the lower edges of the end Walls, the latter being suitably cut away to receive the upper tie pieces of the unit next below so that the end walls of adjacent units abut, there being only a fine line of demarcation between them tov render the exterior of the cabinet of an attractive appearance. The upper tie pieces 6 and 7 of a lower unit or section fit between and edge to edge in the same plane with the lower tie pieces 4 and 5 of the upper section or unit so that all, together, form, when assembled, a solid and practically continuous wall between the two units which is common to both, though in order to give finish thereto a false bottom or supplementary flooring piece. 8 of an integral structure is preferably provided,being arranged to span the lower tie pieces 4 and5, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The abutting or adjacent edges of two of the tie pieces, one on each unit,are provided with oppositely arranged recesses or guides 9 which are formed in the present'instance by kerfs or grooves extending throughout their lengths. Communicating with these recesses at their terminals are openings 10, which also communicate with the interior of the casing 1 and are preferably formed by cutting away portions of the end edges of the tie pieces, as shown.

The locking member is in the nature of a preferably unattached sliding bolt that I prefer to form in the shape of a sheet metal are assembled the plate may be inserted i from within one casing, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, first laterally or upwardly through the opening 10 and then longitudinally into the kerii's or recesses eii'ectually locking the two units together, the lower wall of one keri' and the upper wall of the other serving as engaging portions acting against opposite faces of the plate or bolt.

The plate may be, of course, slidably adjusted to any position throughout the length of the tie pieces though ordinarily retained in practice at a point adjacent the opening 10 and several plates may be used one being shoved ahead of the other to occupy positions at different points along the two kerfs, if desired, all being inserted through the same opening. The finger portion 12 is received within the slot between the tie pieces, being vertically disposed, and the lower portions of the edges are preferably beveled, as at 13, to render them more accessible to the fingers of the user. These beveled portions also assist the tie pieces in adjusting themselves beside each other when the units are first assembled, as will be un derstood.

The locking member is removed with a reverse movement from that by which it is inserted, being likewise withdrawn from the interior of the casing through the open ing 10.

It is obvious that the opening 10 could be formed by cutting away only one of the tie pieces and withdrawing the plate from the kerf in the corresponding portion of the other by a final lateral and downward movement, the portion cut away being a little deeper than shown in the drawings so that it will comprise entirely the area of the opening. It is likewise evident that the device would operate successfully were the upper portion of the bottom tie piece directly above the kerf 9 removed, as indicated by the dotted line 14 in Fig. 5, leaving only an under projecting engaging portlon 15 as this portion is in reality the operative part that resists upward movement by engagement with the plate, the latter being guided sufiiciently in the kerf of the opposite member.

This invention, as above described, furnishes a locking device of great simplicity and cheapness as it will be observed that the kerfs 9 can be out in the wood-working machine (these cabinets being easily con structed in wood) simultaneously with the formation of the tie pieces as to general shape and the locking member 11 is simply a punched plate with the finger portion 12 struck therefrom.

I claim as my invention:

1. in a. sectional cabinet, the combination with two superposed casings, the adjacent walls of which each emibody a member having an exposed edge provided with a slot or channel, of a detachable slidable plate adapted. to be received and retained within the said channel of one such member jointly with that in the other member to lock the members together, the members bei g arranged edge to edge to form a common wall of and between both casings.

2. In a sectional cabinet, the combination with two superposed casings, the adjacent walls of which each embody a member having an exposed edge provided with a slot or channel, of a detachable slidable plate adapted to be received and retained within the said channel of one such member jointly with that in the other member to lock the members together, the members being arranged edge to edge to form a common wall of and between both casings, and an opening being formed in one member communicating with the channel therein to permit the removal or insertion of the plate from the channels and through the opening into the interior of one of the casings.

3. In a sectional cabinet, the combination with two superposed casings forming the units of the cabinet, the top of the lower casing and the bottom of the upper casing being provided with tie pieces connect ing their respective end walls and lying side by side to constitute a common wall between the casings, the adjacent edges of the pieces being provided with longitudinal kerfs or channels and a detachable locking plate slidably arranged in both channels.

4L In a sectional cabinet, the combination with two superposed casings forming the units of the cabinet, the top of the lower casing and the bottom of the upper casing being provided with tie pieces connecting their respective end walls and lying side by side to constitute a connnon wall between the casings, the adjacent edges of the pieces being provided with longitudinal kerfs or channels, and a detachable locking plate slidably arranged in both channels and accessible for operation. from within one of the casings.

5. In a sectional cabinet, the combination with two superposed casings forming the units of the cabinets, the top of the lower casing and the bottom of the upper casing portion forming communication between the being provided with tie pieces connecting] tachable locking plate arranged to slide in their respective end walls and lying side by I both kerfs and removable therefrom through side to constituted a common Wall between the opening from Within one of the casings. the casings, the a jacent edges of the pieces being provided with longitudinal kerfs or ALBERT WEISS channels and one of them with a cutaway WVitnesses:

RUSSELL B. GRIFFITH,

kerf and the interior of the casing and a de- NELSON Corr.

copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

-. Washington, D. 0. 

